CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Residents of Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental – the first municipality after the last barangay in the eastern part of this city – slammed water interruption during Christmas on social media.
A netizen said in an online post that the water interruption started on December 23. This coincided with other online posts from residents who said that they had no water connection for four days.
Some of them even said that they were preparing for Christmas Eve with almost no water connection.
THE Tagoloan Water District conducts emergency repairs on leaking mainline pipes in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental. (Tagoloan Water District Facebook page)
The Tagoloan Water District (TWD) posted an advisory on Facebook on December 11 informing residents of low water supply and water service interruption in Barangays Boguac, Poblacion, Santa Cruz, Mohon, and Baluarte due to “mainline pipe leaking” in San Martin in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, the neighboring town of Tagoloan.
The emergency repair lasted until December 26. The TWD also posted an update on December 27 around 3 a.m. saying that the emergency repair has been completed.
PREPARING for Christmas, but we almost don't have a water connection. Why Tagoloan Water District? It looks like it has been a week.
Despite this, water connection has not returned in some areas as a netizen asked the TWD on Facebook to restore water supply.
TAGALOAN Water District, restore the water connection. My god! I thought it's complete.
Tagoloan Mayor Nadya Emano-Elipe said on December 27 that water connection in other areas has been restored except for areas in Poblacion. Elipe said she was told by the TWD that the water supply in Poblacion areas would also be restored on December 27.
“I do not know what happened, but I will ask the management of the Tagoloan Water District,” Elipe said.
MAYOR Nadya Emano-Elipe answers questions from the media after receiving an award for Tagaloan for being one of the fully compliant municipalities in Misamis Oriental during the 23rd Gawad KALASAG Seal and Special Awards awarding ceremony in Cagayan de Oro City on December 27. (Franck Dick Rosete)
TWD General Manager Jose Factura Jr. explained that there were areas, especially on the edge of Poblacion, that remain without water supply despite emergency repair completion, as water connection was gone for a few days and its main source is in Jasaan, Misamis Oriental, about 15.4 kilometers from Tagoloan via Butuan-Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Road.
To resolve the problem, Factura said they controlled the water connection in Barangay Santa Cruz by stopping the supply for a certain number of hours to boost the connection going to Poblacion areas.
“So far, yesterday evening, I asked to monitor, and the majority of the areas already have water connections,” Factura said in an interview on Thursday, December 28, adding that TWD is supplying water to seven out of 10 barangays in Tagoloan.
The TWD general manager said the mainline pipe started to leak in the afternoon of December 24. However, the water interruption only affected some areas. They tried to locate the leak but were having difficulties locating it because of the road development on the national highway.
On December 26, around 2 a.m., he said water connection was completely lost. They found the leak on the crossing in Barangay Katipunan, Villanueva, on December 27 and fixed the pipe on the same day around 3 a.m.
The leak happened as the water system is already over 30-years-old and these are inevitable if there is strong pressure in the pipelines, Factura said.
To help residents cope with the water supply problem, the municipal government of Tagoloan provided water supply for them through the fire trucks of the Municipal Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office and the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Elipe said residents who would like to request help can message her office or the municipal information office.